diff --git a/deps/v8/tools/tickprocessor.js b/deps/v8/tools/tickprocessor.js
index d8575738553aa9..381e2f9b69ffa7 100644
--- a/deps/v8/tools/tickprocessor.js
+++ b/deps/v8/tools/tickprocessor.js
@@ -750,8 +750,11 @@ inherits(MacCppEntriesProvider, UnixCppEntriesProvider);
 MacCppEntriesProvider.prototype.loadSymbols = function(libName) {
   this.parsePos = 0;
   libName = this.targetRootFS + libName;
+
+  // It seems that in OS X `nm` thinks that `-f` is a format option, not a
+  // "flat" display option flag.
   try {
-    this.symbols = [os.system(this.nmExec, ['-n', '-f', libName], -1, -1), ''];
+    this.symbols = [os.system(this.nmExec, ['-n', libName], -1, -1), ''];
   } catch (e) {
     // If the library cannot be found on this system let's not panic.
     this.symbols = '';